Mirror, Mirror
by Fyrest
Summary: Aria and Aaron are opposites, despite the fact that they're twins. However, their goals are very much the same: to become the next - and better than the current - L. And what better way to do that than to participate in the new Kira Case? But when Aria gets in over her head, she will do anything to become the best detective she can - and the best Kira the world has ever seen.
1. Chapter One - Win Some, Lose None

**Chapter One – Win Some, Lose None**

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"Aaron~!" a girl sang, happily slamming the door to her most recent lodging loudly. "I've got some amazing news~!"

The brunette's chest-length hair bounced slightly as she strolled through the small cottage home. Filled with guns and other huntsman equipment, the house was not really to the girl's taste, but as it was borrowed from one of Aaron's acquaintances, it couldn't be helped. The many animal heads on the walls stared at the girl as she passed. She ended her small walk by flopping down on a plush couch next to a sixteen-year-old, letting her feet dangle and graze the bear pelt on the floor. The boy, her brother, Aaron, was tall and his long legs crisscrossed clumsily as he read a book on psychology, or at least that's what he had said it was about to his sister earlier. He had looked at her from the moment that the brunette had addressed him.

"What's up, Aria?" Aaron muttered, his tone slightly dismissive as he looked back down at his book. Aria gasped and held her hands over her heart, feigning emotional pain.

"How could you be so cold to your loving and older twin sister?" Aria said. Aaron rolled his eyes and smiled at her, replying, "I apologize. And I'm the older one. Anyway, what's this amazing news of yours? A cute boy, a new shoe store?"

Aria pouted, pushing him lightly, slightly annoyed. Aaron just laughed after he had regained his balance, "Didn't you want me to be a little rude?"

He brushed his dirty blond hair out of his eyes with a pale hand. He always let the tips cover his eyes, but at the same time they were always a little inconvenient. Aria stretched her not-really-tanned legs and then folded them neatly under her. "Why won't you just cut it?"

She always asked him that every month and a half or so. He would always refuse; it was too much of a bother. She always had her way in that matter, though, and so, when he fell asleep, she would cut it and he would wake up with short hair that he didn't know what to do with.

He brushed the question off, as usual, saying, "Didn't you have something important to tell me?"

"Oh, yeah!" the brunette said, "Well, it's something we've both been looking forward to!"

Aaron leaned back, closing his book and his blue eyes stared directly into the girl's playful, hazel ones. Her glittery, pink lips formed a smile, and her posture showed that she wanted him to guess why she was so excited. Her small form bounced slightly on the couch, conveying all the more how happy she was (she was usually not quite so childish, often adopting a manner of playful maturity).

"By 'we', do you mean both of us or just you?" Aaron asked, a twinge of mocking in his voice.

Aria pouted, "No, I seriously mean both of us. Don't be mean."

Aaron considered mentioning the few (dozen) times where she had just meant herself. For example, sweets and clothing stores, which Aaron never really liked, but Aria had dragged him to 'for the both of them.' Aria knew what he was thinking, and quickly said, "Okay, I'm serious this time. Just guess, please, please, please!"

"Just tell me."

"Just guess!"

"No."

"Please." Hazel eyes put on the most watery, puppy-eyed expression they could.

"You think that will work on me?" Aaron smirked. Aria sighed, genuinely disappointed. She gave in, "Fine, killjoy. Please guess, 'my wonderful, amazing, big brother'?"

"If you insist," Aaron smiled, not caring that it was just her being sarcastic. "Could it perhaps be a book?"

Aria laughed, "Yeah, and I'm the conceited one?"

"Of course."

Aria paused, giving him a fake glare, then spoke, "Anyway. No, that's not it. It's way better. And we've talked about it before, okay?"

Widened, blue eyes conveyed the teen's surprise. "You serious?"

A nod, one that caused a few brown locks to tumble over the girl's small shoulders.

"Really? Truly?"

"Really truly."

"Limited edition Jack Reacher series pack with all of the books?"

A silence filled the air. The girl's delicate hands smacked both of the twins' faces. The boy laughed and the girl merely glared.

"You idiot. Just-just look at it, okay?"

She threw a manila folder at the pale blonde in front of her, some of the paper falling out of the almost-overflowing file. He opened it up slowly, not knowing what to expect, except something grand, judging by how much his sister had played it up. Pages upon pages upon even more pages, all contained data – phone calls, computer files, dates, names, times, pictures. Aaron looked at each paper quickly and carefully, flipping through, his excitement level rising with every single page.

"Where…how…?" the blonde murmured, stunned and absolutely amazed, feeling almost giddy. She shrugged and gave him a sly glance, "Oh, you know, you know, acquaintances, friends in good places, stuff like that. But you better be happy; I gave up a lot of crap and favours for it."

Aaron and Aria shared a grin and Aaron almost toppled the slightly smaller girl as he hugged her. He was pleasantly surprised – he had never imagined her to be the one to get them such a bounty, especially not at the price of some of her accessories and whatnot. Sometimes, when he was caught up by her sassy, selfish demeanor, he forgot that she was smart and a good friend, and not ever a good enemy. And, sure, it was her idea to go to different housings every few months, but it was also her idea to try to be close to a mall (except in this case- it was just forests and dirt roads for miles around). And she had been an indispensable ally in Wammy's House and during their escape. In fact, all of her decisions seemed to be based off of her own self-centered desires but always seemed to have a benefit for Aaron, and the pair of them, as well.

"You can get off now," Aria said after a while. "We need to pack again."

Aaron sat back up. "Sorry. And thank you. So, where are we going next?"

Aria smiled and got up. She beckoned for him to follow her as she went down the hallway to the man's bedroom. Rather than open the ominous wooden door, Aria stopped a few paces in front of it and turned to their left and stretched her hand to about an inch and a half below the ceiling, pushing against the wall. She smirked, imagining her twin's confused expression, "While you sat and read about your psycho-babble, I did some exploring. I searched the whole house and eventually found…this."

As she said the last word, the wall had finished opening and the rectangular hole in the wall led to a small hallway. There was a large metal door and a glowing keypad next to it. The girl's delicate fingers danced along the keys, her slightly long nails tapping lightly against the mechanism. She muttered the numbers as she pressed them, "Four. Seven. Six. One. Oh. Nine. Two. Seven. Three. Eight. Two. One. Five. Three."

There was a small hum, then a beep, and the metal door opened up with the sound of various machines unfastening. The doorway now opened the way to a small room, a bit bigger than a walk-in closet, which was filled with…

Nothing? Aaron was baffled, and asked, "What?"

Aria laughed, walked to the center of the room and pointed down. "There."

"Under the floor?"

A nod, "Look, I'll show you."

She stepped back, kneeled and murmured, as much to Aaron as to the air, "Where there is water, there is prey. Where there is prey, there are predators. Where there are predators, there are men."

What sounded like a huntsmen's oath had caused a small click and two tiles moved aside to reveal a rising pedestal with a glass case resting on top. When it was at its full height, it made a click. Aria took out a spray bottle from her pocket and sprayed the air around the glass case. The contents of the bottle had revealed green lasers that crisscrossed around the case and the teens.

"_Tutor, successisti. Non diutius requireris_."

Protector, you have succeeded. You are no longer needed.

The lasers faded and the glass dome slid neatly into the pillar, revealing a book-like object. Or, rather, it was a book- in greater detail, it was a black notebook with some strange runes on it.

"It used to hold a particularly deadly bomb. Now, it holds this notebook," Aria said with a smug smile, as if saying 'I know something you don't, so ha~'. Aaron just nodded in understanding, while his attention was briefly fixed on the book. He then shot a small, questioning glance at his twin. She sighed, "I know what you're thinking. And no. Okay? Just no."

Aaron shrugged with a sullen 'whatever', then asked, "So, back to our earlier subject, when do we leave?"

The brunette withheld her reply until they left the room, both doors closing with a slight sliding noise, but otherwise quietly. After waiting until they were both settled on the couch, the girl finally said, "Not too soon. I'll have to do a lot more research- the people who've worked with slash are working with him. Also, I'll have to investigate the cover-up and all. It'll probably be a month or so. I mostly just wanted to give you a heads up so you wouldn't be all, 'my life is perfect' and faint suddenly from shock."

Aaron nodded in understanding, then started, "Who would be fainting? Anyway…so, I'm assuming we're not just going to walk right up to him on the street or something, right? So we'll need to lure him with a bluff of sorts…"

Aria tapped a finger to her nose, "Bingo~. You know, you're starting to think a lot more like me."

"Ugh, I wish I wasn't."

"I, personally, love it. It makes you more agreeable when you aren't ranting about psychology and goodness knows what else. Anyway, we'll need to think of a horribly good bluff, considering…

"This is L we're talking about."

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**_[Author's Note: The Latin is not from Google, it's from my Latin teacher. So if you look it up on Google, and get something different for the phrase, that's why. __Anyway, knew chapter soon. I've got a few formats to fix, but it looks good. Hope you all enjoyed! Rate and review! And follow. Whatever it is.]_**


	2. Chapter Two - The Twin Leaves

**_Chapter Two – The Twin Leaves_**

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A man sat on the floor, his legs crossed beneath him, staring at the computer on his lap. Police reports flew across the screen: murders, break-ins, et cetera. It was nearing five in the morning, the sun beginning to crawl up the horizon, and the poor fellow looked, to anyone that might catch a glimpse of him, as if he hadn't slept in days. Of course, that statement was dead-on accurate. The pale-skinned man hadn't had a moment of sleep in almost a week, though it was quite normal for an insomniac such as himself. As of recently, he had to admit that he had been slightly stressed out, which was quite unusual for him.

This particular man was named, and commonly referred to as, L. L was the supposed "best detective in the world", or so he was said to be. He was an abroad detective, associated with no agency or corporation. The only constant person he worked with was a single man, nicknamed Watari, who served as L's representative. L, when working on a case, would never show his face. Or, rather, he prefers to avoid revealing himself, keeping his identity secret; who knew what would happen to him if he didn't. In fact, there had only ever been one case in the past when L had willingly shown himself to a small group that he was working with (not counting the one person who had seen him without knowing it was him).

The Kira Case.

That case had been, without a doubt, the most intriguing, difficult, and life-changing case that L had ever undertaken, even surpassing the strange events of the L.A. BB Murder Case. The victims of the Kira Case had died of mainly heart-attacks, some from suicide and accidents. Then, a sort of God rose up, named Kira, to take responsibility. During L's time on the case, he'd become friends with the very one committing the crime: son of the police chief, Light Yagami. L had been very suspicious of him, especially in the beginning, but he came to trust him during their time after Light's confinement. Though he had admitted to thinking of him as a friend before said confinement, those feelings became stronger and more prominent after the incident, though some suspicion remained. L did, however, find evidence against Lights after Misa Amane disappeared suddenly, and L sent someone after her. Both the letter and the Death Note she was found with were obtained and destroyed. Misa was imprisoned, along with Light, and the case was completed using a cover-up; L had some sympathy for Light's family, and he believed it would cause a scene if it were discovered that the boy that had seemed so perfect had actually been a criminal. His disappearance was explained as a vacation, until, days after his imprisonment, Light died of a heart attack. Misa Amane was released five years later, and she was currently going through therapy, at least as far as L knew. A faint buzz brought him back to the present, and he stood up slowly, his white shirt rumpled and his blue jeans low enough to permit pulling them back up, walking over to open the door to his dimly-lit hotel room. On the other side of the door, L learned, was Watari. His glasses reflected the light from the lamp on the desk near the window. Striding inside, Watari sat in the armchair nearest him, exhausted; he had ridden on an airplane for over eight hours, and he was beginning to seriously think that he was smidge too old for air travel. L closed the door silently, resuming his spot on the linoleum floor.

"I assume you have news for me, Watari?" L inquired in a monotone voice. "It is unlike you to be here so very early." Watari exhaled slowly, nodded.

"Apparently, the two that graduated last year have seemingly vanished," he explained. "Their last location was in Germany, nearly three months ago. Roger is getting rather worried." L nodded.

"What were these two called?" he asked.

"They were twins. Ari was the male, and Alexis was the female."

"Real names or aliases?"

"Aliases," Watari clarified. "Roger does not remember the true names of the twins, and any record of them seems to have disappeared as well."

"Photographs?" L asked.

"No," Watari replied. L sighed inaudibly. He closed his computer, sitting silently.

"Well," he said after a few moments. "There is not much to do. Without photographs, I have little recollection of the two. In any case, they have graduated; we have very little hold over them. If they willingly disappeared, then it is their decision. If they have been kidnapped or something alike, there is very little that we can do, out here in Australia." Watari looked at the ceiling. Of course, L was right; they were no longer legally responsible, so it truly should not matter if they disappeared of their own decision. And, of course, he was also right about the possibility of a kidnapping; even if it were the case, there was not much they could, without records of the twins. Watari sighed in resignation, standing, regarding the sleep-deprived L as he did so.

"May I take my leave, sir?" he asked. "I am rather tired." L nodded, and Watari wasted no time in getting over to the door to the room. "Anything else?"

"Oh, yes, actually, Watari," L replied. "I've chosen our next case, so I shall be finished by lunch today. Set up a meeting with the client at two, and do please get some of the shortcakes you found the day, will you?" Watari nodded in agreement, buttoning the trench coat he adorned.

"What of the transportation?"

"I have arranged for our tickets," L said. "We will be taking the skies, Watari." He nodded, and Watari quickly left the room, leaving L to ponder the twins' situation.

Why else would they just up and vanish like that, if not of their own accord? While a kidnapping was possible, L doubted the kidnappers would have any access to their records, let alone destroy any that remained. He opened his laptop again, pulling up information. He truly had little to remember the two by, and he very rarely remembered the true names of any of the orphans. The nicknames had been familiar, drudging up an image of the two, but it had been nearly seven years since the last time he'd seen them.

Following his first line of thought, L wondered why they might have decided to disappear. This sort of thing rarely happened, though when it did, the children were normally angry at L or Roger for having kept them there. What struck L as odd, though, was that when he'd seen them, they had seemed very much happy. They'd been excited to meet him, happy to have been chosen to be candidates for is successor. Though it had been seven years, L just couldn't see how they could go through such a dramatic change in that short time. Wammy's House may have been difficult, but L doubted any of the other children could have caused the change of attitude needed to make the twins want to disappear under the radar.

Suddenly, L had an idea. Pulling up his contact list, he typed out a quick message to a very young, trusted friend, rather optimistic, even for him. If his calculations were correct, this "friend" would have seen the two during their time at Wammy's, and, hopefully, would have some clue as to why they'd made their decision.

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_**A/N: This chapter was, more or less, just a filler chapter. More than anything, it cleared up a few things. 1265 words, huh? Not bad. Hope you enjoyed. **_

_**The title is a play on the phrase referring to two leaves that are exactly the same, hence, the twin leaves. Yeah.**_


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